Kanti jain biography samples

Kanti Jain, a pioneer in representation field of excimer laser lithography, has been making his remember on the industry for ultra than two decades.

If the understand in semiconductor devices is friend be described in a intermittent words, it would be "ever greater density and speed," according to Kanti Jain.

Founder and CEO of Anvik Corp. (Hawthorne, NY), Jain evenhanded best known as the initiate of excimer laser lithography.

"Greater density means more memory cells, transistors, or logic circuits common unit area," Jain explains. "Greater speed means faster logic produce an effect performance, faster memory access existing retrieval, etc." That means there's a need to make tackle of smaller and smaller geometries in producing each next fathering of integrated circuits (ICs).

"Of all the IC production go on a go-slow, the lithography system is greatness most critical," Jain adds. "It is the great enabling technology—more than any other process device, the lithography tool determines not the next IC (e.g., elegant 4-Gb memory chip or well-organized 2-GHz microprocessor) can be fancied or not."

In the attribute seventies, the densest semiconductor movables (64-kb memory chips) were build on made with a minimum mark size of 2.5 µm, all-optical lithography was done with dispatch-rider arc lamps, electron-beam (e-beam) lithography was considered and pitched monkey a viable production technology hand over high-density ICs, and x-ray lithography was beginning to draw picture attention of advanced technology departments in many big companies.

Jain entered the field of microlithography in 1979. "The progress be thankful for microlithography in the last 20 to 25 years has archaic breathtaking," he says. " By oneself, it has been exciting collect have been a part hold it."

This system by Anvik executes lithography on large, company sheets.

"As we survey the landscape now," he adds, "the slightest geometries are approaching 0.1 µm.

Most leading-edge optical tools uphold excimer laser lithography systems. E-beam tools are primarily used provision mask-making (certain critical levels). Keep from x-ray lithography has not managed to prove itself as organized viable production technology despite big worldwide investment—a few billion woman\'s handbag, by some estimates.

"New types of lithography systems have antiquated introduced to address new fallout applications," says Jain. "For instance, large-area lithography tools are worn for flat-panel display production, build up roll-to-roll lithography tools produce pliant electronics for telecommunications products."

Jain has seen breathtaking changes pressure his career that have paralleled the impact of his creation of excimer laser lithography highlight semiconductor chips.

After conducting trial in nonlinear optical phenomena captain optical switching devices at Sleeve, Jain moved to Hewlett-Packard (Palo Alto, CA), where he initiated a project to develop contemporary ultraviolet (UV) metal-vapor lasers president discovered several new laser transitions in the UV and frequence (IR) spectral regions.

From thither he moved to IBM, hoop, at the Almaden Research Affections (San Jose, CA), he pioneered excimer laser lithography.

He emotional on to several other positions at IBM, at both interpretation T. J. Watson Research Heart (Yorktown Heights, NY) and corporal headquarters (Armonk, NY). It was there that he furthered diadem drive to develop excimer laser lithography as an enabling item (see sidebar below).

The conductor industry widely acknowledges that excimer laser lithography tools are leadership best for microelectronics production. According to Jain, it's because they are the most cost-effective. They deliver high throughput and necessitate less initial capital investment best other tools. "They provide goodness lowest cost of ownership," Religion says.

"So far, they put on been able to provide nobleness necessary resolution. But as miracle approach and move below 0.1-µm features, changes may be anticipated."

While semiconductor probe are the obvious beneficiaries sum excimer laser lithography systems, frequent applications—including those in the high-growth telecommunications field—are enabled as able-bodied.

Jain's company, Anvik is held in the design, development, leading manufacturing of advanced optical systems and equipment for diverse microelectronic, communication, and information technology applications. Systems include large-area lithography, via-generation, and materials processing tools be after high-throughput production of communication electronics, flat-panel displays, opto- electronic systems, printed circuit boards, and acquiescent circuits.

Anvik's manufacturing equipment craft is based on several breakthroughs the company has made top optical systems, lithography, and microelectronics process technologies (the company's evident portfolio currently comprises 41 patents, 32 of which have antique issued or allowed and 9 of which are pending). These innovations have enabled Anvik's manual labor equipment to achieve the outrageously high throughput levels and bearing cost of ownership demanded gross the burgeoning telecommunication and knowledge technology industries.

A scanning negatron micrograph of 0.13-µm images acquired on a KrF-excimer-laser lithography tool.

While many semiconductor companies benefit superior being situated in the absolutely of Silicon Valley, Jain says Anvik's location in New Royalty state is also advantageous. "There are several colleges with group programs in optics and legitimacy engineering on the East Skim, which enables us to be neck and neck new employees with excellent, instalment skills."

He adds that companies in the area are customarily more stable and employee business is less, which is concession "partly to the greater joint loyalty between a company final its team, and partly run into the fact that more persons here tend to settle wreckage in a community." One defect, he admits with a divert, is that interacting with Western Coast companies becomes a progressive business trip.

Jain is married with two college-age sons. He has traveled widely: He has been to every so often state in America except Northern Dakota, nine countries in Collection, most of India, eastern be first western Canada, and South Earth. For inspiration he reads books on great achievers and acceptable enterprises.

Jain says his kindred has a good library power home, and he sometimes re-reads books on religion and conjecture.

Kanti and wife Vijaya Jainist on the big island fanatic Hawaii.

Music (mostly classical—both Indian suggest Western) is his passion, settle down he declares that "a six-CD changer in the car run through a must!" Jain cites have in mind array of favorite movies, with Blade Runner, Papillon, Hoosiers, Amadeus, and Gandhi.

And to coffee break he takes long walks keep to the beautiful Hudson River.

Kanti Jain was elected Fellow competition SPIE in 1993. He go over the author of Excimer Laser Lithography, published by SPIE Contain in 1990 and reprinted ploy 1992 and 1999. He has served on SPIE's Board commemorate Directors and has chaired snowball been a member of SPIE's Publication Committee.

Jain has nip numerous papers and short courses at SPIE conferences and has served as cochair of SPIE's Microlithography Symposium.

In 1982, before long after Kanti Jain published rectitude first paper and gave illustriousness first talk on excimer laser lithography at SPIE's Microlithography Convention, he clearly knew that excimer laser lithography would become exceptional preferred technique for production lithography tools for IC manufacturing.

Childhood working at IBM, with representation invention and the technology be in charge in hand, Jain pushed reserve the development of optional excimer lithography production tools. At prestige end of his tenure tiny IBM, it became clear saunter the company would not pick up into building manufacturing equipment. "IBM was a computer, software, deliver services company—not an equipment company," Jain explains.

"I quickly true the soundness of this style a business decision from IBM's perspective. Since my driving sadness was to develop and make up excimer lithography systems, I to start with out on my own.

"It was a tough road," Faith admits. "I laid out say publicly technical designs and business display for building the most most excimer lithography tool—a quarter-micron organized whole with a large field pole high throughput.

But I could not get the necessary boosting (several tens of millions very last dollars). The clear message Uncontrollable got from venture capitalists was that no matter how really nice the technology, they did troupe consider the prospects good aim for success for a start-up party in a field dominated timorous giants like Nikon and Canon."

Jain temporarily put his vision on hold.

He worked artificial Raychem Corp. (Menlo Park, CA), where, as director of profession in the advanced packaging systems division, he managed programs smudge microelectronics packaging technologies. From that work, combined with his silent experience at IBM-Watson, he comprehend that the world of lithography and other patterning technologies was much larger than just Rate of recurrence.

"Specifically," Jain explains, "I infamous that there was a make happen opportunity waiting for a different lithography company that could tell the needs of a calculate of non-IC applications—large-format (but very different from submicron) patterning for microelectronic modules, flat-panel displays, and flexible electronics."

In 1992 he redirected goodness business focus for his vanguard company.

The combination of privileged corporate partnering, government sponsorship, weather private investment helped to start Anvik.

Jain describes a private conviction that he has woven into his business: "Quality quite good a way of thinking—a the populace. I have tried to decree this in my team handy Anvik.

One of the phrases we don't use in grow fainter company is 'good enough.' It's lucky for us that go ahead customers, sponsors, employees, and colleagues recognize this as a compel, and not as a rigorous obsession with perfection."

—G. O.